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Chapter 24- Drunk Spidey

It was a normal Friday afternoon. Peter would be returning home at around 5:30 p.m., Pepper would come an hour later, while Tony greeted the both of the them, returning from his lab, with three empty cups, he only got motivated to wash, because of the fact he was always needed upstairs to assure everyone of his existence.

When FRIDAY alerted him off Peter's arrival, Tony collected his mugs and went upstairs, to find Peter checking the insides of the fridge, a frown on his face.

"No food?" Tony asked, placing the mugs near the sink, scaring the living daylights out of Peter.

"What?! Oh, hey." Peter said, grabbing his heart when he saw Tony. And instantly, Tony knew something was up. Peter would normally start rambling on about school just about now, a large smile on his face, that would immediately make Tony do the same. But this time, there was no smile, no chatter. Obviously Tony had noticed that after Titan, Peter didn't talk as much, but still, you could see the difference now. He examined Peter's face, but the boy remained uncharacteristically calm.

"Someone's bothering you? Flash? Got triggered again? Too hot? Can't keep it out of your mind? Need a super-Tony massage with a Star Wars marathon? Tired? Nightmares?" Tony started his "dad-mode" ramble, checking Peter's forehead and disheveling Peter's hair in the meantime.

"I'm fine." Peter said bitterly. Tony frowned. Peter never sounded like that. The teen walked past, grabbing his backpack and disappearing into the lift. Tony decided to leave him alone, knowing that sooner or later Peter would come to him for help, or so he hoped. He began cooking lunch, waiting for Pepper to arrive.

An hour later, Pepper arrived to the smell of spaghetti, (Tony's speciality, whenever he was following his mother's cookbook). She kissed Tony on the cheek and sat on the kitchen stool, taking out her StarkPad.

"Where's Peter?" She asked, looking towards the couch, where usually the teen was sprawled on, already having greeted Pepper with his childish voice.

"Upstairs." Tony shrugged, taking out three plates. Pepper looked at him disbelievingly.

"Go check up on him." Pepper said. Tony entered the lift and walked to Peter'a room, hesitating, before knocking on the teen's door.

When he heard no reply, he entered the room to find it empty. He checked Peter's closet to find the suit untouched, hanging in between Peter's shirts.

"FRIDAY? When did Peter go out?" Tony asked, feeling his heart tighten inside. He knew he shouldn't be panicking. He should be alright with Peter finally behaving like a normal teenager. But there was something weird about this whole situation. It just wasn't Peter at all. It's not what Peter did when he felt angered, tired, sad. He would always turn to Tony.

"At 6:15." FRIDAY replied.

"Call him."

"Peter isn't replying." FRIDAY said.

"Shit." he looked up, "can you track him? Does he have his watch with him?"

"It appears that his watch is resting in his drawer." FRIDAY said.

"So he didn't want me to find out." Tony said, he sighed once more, before leaving Peter's room, trying very hard to comfort himself with the thought that Peter for once in his life was being a teenager, and that he was just being an overprotective dad. That's how it was, right?

Tony returned to find Pepper still waiting by the table, food untouched.

"Doesn't want to eat?" Pepper asked. Tony didn't reply. He sat down by the table, taking the fork into his hand.